(Leonia, New Jersey; March 14, 2013) – BALAM Dance Theatre (BALAM), a nonprofit dance theatre company, will present a new educational program, Commedia dell’Arte: The Silly Truth, at the Leonia Public Library, located at 227 Fort Lee Road in Leonia, New Jersey, on Saturday, April 13 from 2:00-3:00 p.m. This family friendly entertainment event is FREE and open to the public. Limited seating is available. For further information, contact the Leonia Public Library at (201) 592-5770.

BALAM, a New York City-based company, offers a new vision of contemporary dance by fusing and diverse cultural dance styles and historical periods with contemporary dance and Balinese theatre. The company’s Out & About touring series will present the new program at the Leonia Public Library, featuring Inma Heredia, BALAM’s Resident Guest Actor and the world’s first and only Flamenco stand-up comedian, as the charming “Isabella”. Carlos Fittante, BALAM’s Artistic Director, will also appear as “Arlequino”, a beloved masked clown/servant from the Commedia dell’Arte tradition, along with other BALAM company members who will perform zany masked characters. An audience participation segment will introduce mask work for the participants.

Ms. Heredia will sing and dance, as she cleverly brings history alive through improvised dialogues that inform the audience about conventions from this beloved theatre style. Other masked characters in Commedia dell’Arte and Balinese masks will appear in original fusion and period reconstructed choreographies. Artists

Inma Heredia lives in New York and is the world’s first – and only – flamenco comedienne. Famous for her salero, a distinctive charm and charisma attributed to the people of Seville, Spain, where she was born and raised, Ms. Heredia has broad appeal as a performer and entertainer.

She is a sought after master-of-ceremonies. As a special event entertainer, Ms. Heredia has performed for luminaries, including Academy Award winners Olympia Dukakis, Pedro Almodovar; Academy Award nominee Alfonso Cuarón; playwrights Eve Ensler and Alfred Molina; and Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Nilo Cruz.

Some hallmark performance venues include the legendary Apollo Theatre in New York and the Comedy Store in Hollywood, as hostess for the hit show, “Latinas Don’t P.M.S.” Her many television credits include Supercanal, Telemundo, Univision, HBO’s Latino “Habla” and “Habla Ya” campaigns, Comedy Central, and the Latin Grammy Awards.

In 2012, she was awarded "Best Actress in a Musical" by the Association of Critics in Entertainment and "Outstanding Solo Performance" by the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors for her acclaimed one woman show, "My Audition for Almodovar".

Currently, Ms. Heredia can be seen with acclaimed actor Louis Zorich in the award-winning film, “Run It”, by the Giovanis Brothers and "The Empty Nest" by Lupini. For further information, go to http://www.inmaheredia.com.

Carlos Fittante specializes in Balinese and Baroque dance styles and performs as a guest artist in Baroque opera throughout the world. This summer he will co-choreograph and perform in the Boston Early Music Festival’s period production of the Handel opera, “Almira”. He is a graduate of the School of American Ballet and has performed extensively with many ballet companies. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Empire State College and currently teaches as a guest lecturer at Queens College in New York.

The BALAM History

BALAM offers a new vision of contemporary dance that emanates from a cutting-edge fusion of diverse cultural dance styles and historical periods. The company’s fusion repertoire presents an opulent dance theatre that blends contemporary choreography, eclectic music, striking masks, imaginative props, and vibrant costumes to create a performance that appeals to audiences of all ages and backgrounds.

In 1979, Islene Pinder, a Lehman College dance educator, founded the company and brought the mesmerizing Balinese dance theatre style to New York audiences. Under the directorship of Spanish-American choreographer Carlos Fittante, BALAM’s repertoire blends boldly divergent movements genres, including ballet, Spanish, Lester Horton, Baroque, Latin, Hip-Hop, drag, Noh, and karate, as well as Balinese.

BALAM has been featured at several distinguished festivals and venues, such as First Night New York; Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors; La Mama Experimental Theatre, New York, New York; Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Lee, Massachusetts and many others. The company has also appeared internationally at the Bali Arts Festival in Denpasar, Bali and the 2nd Encuentro Internacíonal de Danza Contemporánea in Cancún, Mexico.

BALAM’s Out & About touring series presents high quality professional programming that is both entertaining and educational at the grass roots level. The series has been endorsed by the Leonia and Fort Lee Public Libraries for its inventive, fun and unique programming.

The company has received critical recognition from the New York Times and Village Voice. The Governor and people of Bali and the Indonesian Consulate of New York have highly commended its performances.

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